Becoming Ferelden's Hero: Mina Cousland
by blackwolfofchaos
Summary: Mina Cousland has lost almost everything she has ever held dear to her. Now she is being thrown into a world of organized chaos, good thing she will have plenty of help along the way. Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age...but I wish I did.
1. Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age only the random characters that get thrown into the story.

She stood on top of a hill watching her home burn to the ground. Her loyal dog, Jasper sat next to watching it burn as well. He whined and licked her hand trying to tell her it was going to be okay. She looked down at him and felt a tear run down her cheek. She then turned towards the man that saved her. She wanted to tell him thank you but at the same time she wanted to stab him from pulling her away.

"Lady Cousland, we must go before Arl Howe's men head this way" he said. She nodded and said a silent good-bye to Highever. She followed him through the woods remaining silent throughout the night. He stopped after several hours of vigorous hiking through the woods. "We are safe for now I don't think Arl Howe's men realized you had escaped. We will rest here for" he said. She sat down and laid her back up against an elm tree. Jasper laid next her legs to help keep her warm. She looked over at the man and felt a thank you was in order even though she was angry with him. If she had learned anything from her tutors it was to give respect to people like him.

"Thank you Duncan for what you did back at Highever" she said. He could sense the anger behind those words no matter how well she hid it. She knew she was being ungrateful towards him since he was giving her a second chance at life. She wasn't so sure that she wanted to become a Grey Warden though. She did have to admit the stories of them during the first Blight were impressive and being considered someone so powerful wasn't all that bad either, but still she lost so much.

"Get some sleep, I will keep watch" he said. She tried to stay awake but she was to tired and sore to stay awake. She dozed off only to be thrown into the nightmare of that night all over again. She heard Jasper bark then screams outside her door. A servant ran in begging for help and then an arrow pierced his heart. She slammed the door shut and pushed a chest in front of the door. She quickly put on her armor and grabbed her daggers. She held them tightly and waited for them to come through the door. Jasper stood next to her growling, with his teeth bared. The men burst through the door only to be taken by surprise by her and Jasper. Jasper tackled one of the two men that entered on to the floor and viscously began to maul at his face since that all he could get to. She moved quickly block the oncoming attackers blade from hitting Jasper. Her dagger held the long sword in place as she stabbed him right between the eyes with her other. He fell to the ground and an arrow zipped by her face. It left a small cut on the side of her cheek. Her eyes beamed at the archer as she went after him sinking a dagger through his leather armor and into his stomach. She yanked it back and watched another shoot past her and hit the solider that Jasper was attacking. She turned to see her mother hold in a bow. Her mother became panicked asking her if she was okay and if your brother's family was okay. They ran towards the room and saw the horrific sight of her nephew and sister-in-law lying in a pool of blood. Her mother left the room and let out a scream. She held back her tears trying to stay strong. So they raced around the burning castle looking for her father with what few men they had left. She said good-bye to her friend Ser Gilmore and battled every man that stood in her way. They found him bleeding to death on the larder floor. Duncan soon arrived explaining the situation. Her parents begged her to leave with Duncan while she begged to stay and die with them. Her parents won and Duncan, Jasper, and her left with their last words repeating over and over again "We love you Mina make us proud".


	2. The road to Ostagar

She awoke to Duncan yanking her up from the ground and pulling her close to him. She was about to yell at him for his inappropriate behavior, except she heard Jasper growl. His growl was not aimed at Duncan but something off in the woods. She looked in the direction but couldn't see anything since it was still dark out. She felt Duncan's hands tighten their grip on her arm as she listened to the sound of approaching footsteps.

"We need to move quickly my lady" he said as he pulled her through the woods. Jasper ran ahead diverting them from running into Howe's men. They ran quickly listening to the shouts of men claiming to not have found anything yet. Jasper came to a stop at a small stream and they both sat down for a minute. "We need to get to the road" Duncan said panting.

"I agree at least before sun rise so it won't be as easy for them to find us" she said. He looked at and she could barely make out his head nodding in agreement. She looked at the stream for a bit then turned to Duncan. "We need to follow the stream south" she said. She could hear the shouts in the distance.

"Let's move quickly then" he said. They began to jog down along the river at a good pace listening for Howe's men. She was upset and angry to the point she wanted one of those bastards to get in her way so she could cut him down where he stood. She hated Howe more than ever and wanted nothing more than to watch him suffer greatly for what he had done. Her family considered him a friend and was even debating on forcing her to marry his son Thomas. The only good thing that had come out of this mess, she thought was that she didn't have to worry about that stupid boy asking for her hand. She smiled a little but faded as quickly as it came. She noticed Duncan was watching her and felt embarrassed for some reason. Jasper stopped and began to growl again. She looked around her and didn't see or hear anything. He yelped and she turned to see two other war hounds attacking him. She rushed over and kicked one making it turn and bite her leg. Its sharp fangs penetrated her leather boots and flesh. She felt the blood run down her leg and the pain surge through her body. She wanted to yell out in pain as it pulled her down. She bit her lip and pulled out her dagger and stabbed at its neck. It let go of her and fell to the ground in a bloody pool. She turned to see Jasper had killed the other dog. Jasper appeared okay other then the minor bite mark on his shoulder. She stood up and bit her lip to hold back her wanting to scream. She soon began to limp away so that they could get away from the dogs bodies as quickly as possible. Duncan walked over to her and helped support her up so they could move quickly. "We will bandage that leg once we are safely away from them all" he said.

"Okay" she mumbled trying not to think of her leg. They moved quickly as possible and managed to find the road as the first light began to spread across Ferelden. She smiled at the sight as they trudged down the road. "May I ask where we are headed" she said hoarsely. He looked down at her then at her leg. He stopped and set her helped her sit.

"We are heading to Ostagar my lady" he said bandaging up her leg.

"Please stop calling me that Duncan, my title means nothing now. I'm just Mina" she said. He nodded and helped her up and they began back down the road. They walked for hours until they reached Lake Calenhad. He went into the inn to grab some supplies while her and Jasper sat outside on a bench. She fell asleep after a few minutes.

Duncan walked out to see that Mina and Jasper had both fallen asleep during his hour long bartering with the inn keeper. He smiled to himself thinking how peaceful she looked sleeping with her head against the building. He truly didn't want to wake her but they truly need to be moving. He walked over and gently touched her arm. She shot up as if she had been struck by lightning. She looked at him and shook her head. She shook Jasper awake and they left the lake and began moving towards the road again. They walked until it started to become dark. They stopped and made camp. She needed to sleep to badly and eat but sleep over came her first. Duncan watched her pass out and carefully placed her in her tent. Jasper laid outside the tent and he tossed him a piece of meat. The dog ate it gratefully and fell asleep. Duncan soon fell asleep in his tent soon after that.

After five days of walking, running, and kicking ass. They finally made it to Ostagar. All three of them seemed to sigh in relief as they began to walk into camp. They were greeted by King Cailan who became upset when he heard of Howe's treachery and she discovered her brother was out in the wilds somewhere. He promised her aid after the battle that he was most confident to win tomorrow. Duncan seemed unsure about this but he didn't let the king see it. Once the king left them he gave her simple instructions to find another Grey Warden in the camp by the name of Alistiar.


End file.
